Mother takes toddler from legal guardians

CHARLESTON, W.Va.-- A Jackson County woman who told police that her husband chained and tortured her, then took back those allegations, carried her 2-year-old son away from the child's legal guardians on Monday, police said.

Stephanie Louise Lizon, 43, was charged with felony child concealment, police said. Her husband, Peter Lizon, 39, was charged with obstruction after he allegedly lied about the child's whereabouts.

Last December, a Jackson County circuit judge awarded permanent custody of the Lizons' son, Mojmir, to Stephanie Lizon's parents, Thomas and Kathleen Hofeller.

On Monday, Jackson County Chief Sheriff's Deputy H.L. Faber received a complaint from Charleston attorney Barbara Utt. The Hofellers told Utt that Stephanie Lizon took the boy from their home over the weekend, according to a criminal complaint filed in Jackson County Magistrate Court.

The Hofellers were unable to get in touch with their daughter and were afraid she was with her husband, whom they say is dangerous.

Faber and several deputies went to the Lizons' home on Miller Hollow Road in Leroy with a search warrant on Monday. Outside the house, they encountered Peter Lizon, who said he hadn't seen his wife and child at home for a while, according to the complaint.

However, deputies heard a child crying from inside the home and found Stephanie Lizon and the boy inside a back bedroom, according to the complaint.

Stephanie Lizon was being held Monday in South Central Regional Jail in lieu of a $50,000 bail. Peter Lizon was being held there on a $5,000 bail. The boy was placed in Child Protective Services custody and returned to his grandparents.

When he was arrested Monday, Peter Lizon was out on bail awaiting trial on a malicious-wounding charge stemming from the alleged abuse of his wife. He was arrested in July 2012 after police accused him of shackling and abusing Stephanie Lizon for more than 10 years.

The charges were based on statements Stephanie Lizon reportedly made to a woman at a family-crisis intervention center. At a hearing after her husband's arrest, Stephanie Lizon testified on her husband's behalf and denied the abuse allegations.